The Best Free Grocery Credit Card? The PC Financial World Elite MasterCard!

Since the beginning of this blog, I have written about credit cards. As a general rule, I stick with credit cards that do not change an annual fee, but offer the best bang for your buck. For example, the best free cash back credit card in Canada offers 2% cash back on gas and groceries and 1% on everything else.

I generally stick with credit cards that offer generic rewards, like cash back, rather than rewards that are tied to a specific brand. However, today I want to share with you a store specific credit card that a regular reader pointed out in the comments. This card is the PC Financial World Elite MasterCard (not affiliated). While PC Financial has released credit cards in the past, this latest edition is almost too good to pass up (for those that shop at Loblaws and affiliated stores – see below).

With no annual fee, the World Elite MasterCard offers 3% return (30 PC points for every $1 spent, ie. 30 PC points = $0.03) on spending in their stores including Loblaws, Real Canadian Super Store (RCSS), Dominion (in NL), PC Mobile, No Frills and Shoppers Drug Mart. Also earn 30 PC points/litre (equivalent to $0.03/litre) spent at Esso (Supreme) and 20 PC points/litre ($0.02/litre) on all other grades of gasoline. Combine this with their existing PC Plus points program/app and it’s a compelling points system.

The Rewards

30 PC points per litre for Surpreme gas at Esso, 20 PC points per litre for all other grades; and,

10 PC points per $1 spent everywhere else (1% return).

The Insurance

Travel Emergency Medical Insurance (up to 10 days);

Car Rental Collision Coverage;

Purchase Assurance – in case of theft within 90 days; and,

Extended Warranty – which doubles warranty of purchase up to an additional year.

Requirements

Minimum annual personal income of $70,000 or household income of $120,000.

If you are under this minimum, then you will likely receive one of their downgraded cards.

The Downside

For a “World Elite” credit card, it could use some additional insurance coverage. I know that it’s free, but if it needs some more juice for this class of card.

Again, the rewards are tied to the Loblaws brand. So this card will only benefit those who do most of their grocery shopping at a grocery store that sells Presidents Choice products.

Competitors

As for the competition, I would say that in the free credit card space, the biggest threat is the Smart Cash MasterCard that offers 2% straight up cash back towards gas/groceries (up to $400 spent/month) and 1% on everything else. While 2% return is obviously less than the 3% offered by PC Financial, the Smart Cash card offers more flexibility where you can shop at any grocery store and it gives you 2% on gas.

In the Premium credit card space, the biggest competitor is likely the Scotia Momentum Infinite Visa. For $99/year, this card will offer you 4% cash back in groceries/gas, 2% at drug stores and recurring payments, and 1% on everything else. This card offers straight up cash back, which means that you can use the card at any grocery store that accepts Visa to obtain the 4% cash back. How much would have to spend on this card to make the annual fee worth it? $9,900 per year in gas/groceries.

Final Thoughts

Who is this card meant for? People that do most of their grocery shopping at Loblaws/Dominion/RCSS/No Frills and Shoppers Drug Mart. Unless you already have a Scotia Momentum card, then this free PC Financial World Elite MasterCard should provide value for you. As Dominion (called Loblaws outside NL) is the main grocery store that we use outside of Costco, this free World Elite MasterCard makes a lot of sense for us and will likely be the next credit card that I sign up for.

About the author: FT is the founder and editor of Million Dollar Journey (est. 2006). Through various financial strategies outlined on this site, he grew his net worth from $200,000 in 2006 to $1,000,000 by 2014. You can read more about him here.

That’s a “hidden” back up requirement, if you don’t meet the income needed for the card, they may still offer it to you if you are a big spender.
Though initially when applying for a new card, you need to meet the income requirement.
When upgrading from a current regular card. if you don’t meet the income requirement, they will review your account usage, and if you are a big spender, near the 25k annual spend, they may still upgrade you.

I’m not sure that’s true either. I certainly didn’t spend that much last year or any year prior, nor do I meet the minimum income requirement, but I’ve had a PCMC for 8+ years and just got a targeted offer for the card (which I accepted). So I think for existing customers it’s on a case by case basis.

Note: For new customers they are also offering a 50,000 PC Points signup bonus!

That’s very strange. They sent me a targeted email and then I just had to reply to the email to accept the offer. Then they just sent a confirmation and the card showed up a few days later. Never talked to anyone or had to tell them anything about my spending/income.

Got my card last week – LOVE IT! I too shop at only Superstore and Costco and and an avid PC Points plus collector! To date I have redeemed $700 in PC Plus Points and I look forward to seeing the difference with the new card. I will use my Capital One Aspire Cash card for all other purchases. Another perk…as we like to travel…you can rack up more points using by booking travel on their PCtravel.ca website – exclusive only to PC Financial clients! Who hoo!

How does this compare with your highly touted MBNA World Elite Rewards card ($89 annual fee)? With no set affiliation to a specific gas station, if the majority of my grocery spending is in the following order:
Independent Grocer (Loblaws)
Costco
Metro

Is there any comparison between the MBNA World Elite Travel Rewards and the PC World Elite?

We already carry around the MBNA and the PC World MasterCards, so now it’s just a matter of remembering which to use where. PC = Lowblaws,Shoppers and Esso, MBNA = everywhere else. As long as I don’t go changing cards again, I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it ;-)
Thanks! I very much appreciate your blog and email updates.

It’s actually even better than you say. When you use a PC Debit Card or MC to pay for fuel, you earn 70 points (7 cents)/litre. On top of that if you pay with the new PCWEMC you get 3x points for every dollar you spend. So with prices hovering around $1.00/litre (or more) you’re effectively getting ~10 cents/litre off!

I’ve personally used my PC points to buy giftcards at the Fortinos in Waterdown, and the Fortinos at Guelph Line in Burlington.

Most recently, I bought $200 worth of Best Buy gift cards about 1 month ago.

Last time I bought a prepaid Visa with points was a couple years ago. It’s easier just to say, pay $50 towards the groceries with points, then take the $50 I would have spent from cash and use that elsewhere. But I only do this when the gift card for the store I want isn’t offered.

3% back on grocery is tempting. Considering I spend about $500 per month on grocery, it is going to provide $5 more per month ($60 annually), only downside is 3% only works on Loblaw brand. My family shop a lot at Costco and neighbor grocery stores at this time, I can’t take max advantage on this yet. Thanks for the info!

Just challenging your claim about having to spend $9,900 per year in gas/groceries to make the Scotia Momentum Infinite worth it.

I ran the numbers and reached these conclusions for the $99 annual fee card:
– $2,475.00/year (or $206.25/month) is the minimum you have to spend just to cover the annual fee.
– $3,300.00/year (or $275.00/month) is the amount you have to spend to START outpacing a no annual fee 1% cashback card.
– $4,950.00/year (or $412.50/month) is the amount you have to spend to START outpacing a no annual fee 2% cashback card.
– $5,950.00/year is the OPTIMAL amount because by this point you’d have to spend one thousand dollars more on a no fee 2% cashback card to get the same amount of rewards. Anything over this amount and you’re way ahead.

*Note: PC MC World Elite does not work with the Ugo Wallet App.
If you have an existing PC MC registered with Ugo Wallet, PC MC has to confirm that you are aware the Elite will not work with Ugo and that you still want the upgrade to the Elite.

One thing to keep in mind when applying for this card.
PC MasterCard likes to play games with credit limits quite often.
Not sure what factors are considered when they decide to slash your credit limit, but many have reported credit limit cuts on the RFD personal finance forum, and other places in the internet. Do a Google search and find out for yourself.
I’ve personally seen my limit decreased by 60% of its initial limit after having the card 6 months.
My credit situation would have only gotten better during this time, not worse, so not entirely sure what sparked my decrease. I’ve never had a limit decreased in my 24 years of having credit.
Just another factor to consider when applying for a card from PC MasterCard.